I’ve been on about 20 family holidays to Greece, going way back to when I was a child visiting with my parents to now making an annual pilgrimage as a mum myself. Over the last few years we’ve been to some of the best Greek Islands for families, but last summer we fell in love with the southern Peloponnese in mainland Greece.
Inspired by my mum, who is a huge fan of the southern Peloponnese, we spent a week exploring Mani, which is known for its rugged untouched landscapes and unique stone towers. We loved that it felt more authentic and less commercialized than other regions of Greece, but is also well set up for tourists who are seeking a ‘slow travel’ experience.
Struggling to choose just one place to stay along the peninsula, we split our week between 2 gorgeous locations, spending 2 nights in Limeni and 5 nights in Stoupa.
I’d say Limeni is the more aesthetic and trendier of the 2 locations, with more boutique hotels and stone villas than Stoupa. But Stoupa, with its long golden beach and bustling tavernas, is far more family-friendly, so by breaking up our week we got to experience the best of both worlds.
How to get to Mani, Greece
The Mani region is located in southern Greece, forming the central peninsula of the Peloponnese.
Found south-west of Athens, it is nestled between the Laconian Gulf to the east and the Messenian Gulf to the west.
The nearest international airport is Kalamata and we flew there from London Heathrow with British Airways. (Jet2 and Easyjet also fly there from the UK.)
The flight time from London to Kalamata is approx. 3 hours 40. The transfer time to Stoupa is around 50 minutes and driving to Limeni from the airport takes just under 2 hours.
I would recommend hiring a car to explore this region. We used Discover Cars to book in advance and collecting the car at Kalamata Airport was quick and pain-free. In our experience, the best accommodation options are situated outside of the towns so we needed a car to get to/from restaurants and beaches.
If you’d prefer not to drive, there are a number of accommodation options within Stoupa that you can book as part of a package holiday with transfers included, or book independently and take a taxi. I noticed, however, that not many of the newer apartments came with pools, which is why we ended up booking a villa with private pool in the hills above Stoupa.
Where to go in Mani, Greece
Limeni
The absolute highlight of our trip to Mani was laying eyes on Limeni for the first time.
Located close to Areopoli, the capital of the Mani region, this break-taking fishing village is surrounded by lush green mountains and traditional stone buildings, and just exudes a certain magic.
The jewel-like waters are warm and calm and we loved spending our first morning in Mani just bobbing in them. A handful of upmarket eateries & traditional seafood restaurants line the waterfront, some with sun loungers for hire if you plan to stay for a few hours, but we ended up creating a little base under the bougainvillea at Thodora’s Place.
There is no proper beach in Limeni but there are staircases down to the water and a small area where you can leave your towels/belongings whilst swimming. (Labelled as Dexameni Beach on Google maps.)
We stayed a short drive away from Limeni at the beautiful Aria Estates Suites & Spa, which is a boutique hotel built in traditional Mani style with a sensational infinity pool.
Read all about our dreamy stay at Aria Estates
On the first evening we had dinner at the hotel’s upmarket Horizon Restaurant where the food was as exquisite as the sunset.
The second night we drove into Areopoli (approx. 7 mins way) and found the historic capital incredibly atmospheric. Stone buildings, ancient churches and cobbled streets are dotted with rooftop bars, candlelit cafes and lots of reasonably-priced restaurants where souvlaki costs just a couple of Euros.
During the day we were too busy enjoying the water to do any excursions but popular nearby attractions include the Diros Caves, one of the most stunning natural wonders in Greece, where you can enjoy a boat ride through a labyrinth of stalactites and stalagmites.
Also on our wish list for our next visit is Vathia, an abandoned village filled with iconic stone towers built in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Stoupa
From Limeni we drove to Stoupa, which is probably the most well-known tourist town in the Peloponnese and that’s because it has a large sweep of golden beach backed by various restaurants and tavernas offering sun loungers to rent.
We found it a great base for families visiting the Peloponnese thanks to its calm shallow waters and well-priced restaurants, many of which offer children’s menus.
As mentioned previously, it’s also closer to the airport than Limeni, which meant we didn’t have to set off too early on our last day.
We spent our days in Stoupa lounging at Enigma Cafe Bar Stoupa. Tucked away in the far corner of Stoupa Beach it felt relatively quiet and relaxing compared to the main beach. Sun-loungers and umbrellas were just 10 Euro/day for the set and drinks, frappes and food from the cliff top restaurant can be bought to down to you on the beach.
We also really enjoyed dining at Stoupa Restaurant , which is one of the more upmarket eateries in Stoupa, and our son loved the more traditional Pefko Restaurant because they made him an ice cream sundae with a Greek flag and gave out party blowers at the end of the meal!
Just along the coast from Stoupa is Agios Nikolaos, a small harbour town with a charming waterfront that has a mix of traditional and trendy restaurants. We noticed obvious signs of gentrification here with the arrival of fancier restaurants like Medikon and Luna Piccola but we liked the balance of the modern with the traditional. One night you can enjoy fine wine and roast lamb and the next a 3 Euro gyros.
Our accommodation for this part of the trip was the absolutely beautiful Amani Earthy Living, which is a small villa complex near the village of Neochori, 5 mins drive away from both Stoupa and Agios Nikolaos.
Amani Earthy Living consists of two separate villas with private pools built in traditional Mani style. Rather conveniently for smaller families or couples, one of the villas is split into 2 apartments so you can rent just part of it.
We stayed in the ground floor sea view suite and, while technically we should have shared the pool and outdoor areas with guests in the first-floor apartment, for most of our stay that apartment was empty and we had all this beautiful space to ourselves.
Our stay included a delicious freshly cooked breakfast delivered to the villa each morning and having my daily Greek yoghurt and cup of tea with these sea views is etched in my mind forever.
You can read all about at stay at Amani Earthy Living here.
Where to stay in Mani
For easy reference, these are all the hotels, villas and apartments we’d recommend to stay in Limeni and Stoupa.
* The places we stayed in!
I hope that helps you plan your own family holiday in Mani. Please check out my Instagram highlights if you’d like to see more from this trip.
Disclosure: Our holiday was self funded. This article contains some affiliate links which means I make a small commission at no extra expense to yourselves if you make a booking.
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